Full Circle
by BatTitan
Summary: "We're back where we started, aren't we?...Just the two of us, the last of the Time Lords." The Doctor finds a little girl hiding in the TARDIS soon after the Time War and for some reason, she just won't leave him alone. AU fic.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The Doctor stepped into the TARDIS with a heavy sigh, pulling off his leather jacket and tossing it haphazardly somewhere behind him. The Time War was over for the price of two entire species: the Daleks and the Time Lords. And it was all his fault.

He was fully prepared to simply hide away in his bedroom for an eternity or two when he heard it.

A tiny sound coming from within the TARDIS.

He froze, listening for it again, and it was only seconds later before the sound repeated itself: an almost-inaudible whimper of pain coming from beneath the console. Blinking in surprise, the Doctor knelt down and saw a tiny girl, no more than two Earth years old, curled up into a ball. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and her eyes were a startling emerald green. Her small hands were pressed against her side, covered in dark red blood.

"Oh." The word escaped him with an exhale, as if he had been suddenly punched in the stomach. The child struggled to lift her head, but couldn't seem to find the strength. He reached in and pulled her out from underneath the console, cradling her in his arms. "It's all right. You're all right. Did a Dalek get you?" She nodded briefly, tears streaming down her face.

"It hurts," she sobbed weakly. "Am I dying?" He could swear both his hearts broke at that.

"No, you're not dying. You'll regenerate, yeah?" He could already see sparks of golden light forming on her pale skin.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"I know." She shut her eyes, huddling against his chest, as her skin began to ripple with warm golden light. She whimpered again and he tightened his grip on her. "Listen, it's gonna hurt, but it'll be over soon, I promise," he said desperately, unsure what else to say to the injured child. One tiny blood-covered hand reached up, closing around his finger, and he clutched her tightly as he watched her change.

Her hair changed from blonde to a reddish-brown. She grew slightly taller and her face became slightly less chubby. She now looked to be about seven Earth years old, if a bit small for her age. Her eyes opened and he saw that they were now a warm brown.

"How do I look?" she asked weakly.

"Cute." Her button-like nose wrinkled and he smiled. "Feeling all right?"

"I'm a little tired," she admitted.

"Rest. You'll be all right." He picked her up, carrying her to a spare bedroom in the TARDIS.

"My name's Erin," she said softly, half-asleep already.

"I'm the Doctor." She smiled shyly, her small hand closing around his jumper as he placed her on the bed while slipping off her shoes. He stroked her mahogany hair briefly before moving away.

"Thank you, Doctor," Erin called after him and he stopped in the doorway, looking back at her. Dried blood still covered her small hands and her clothes were dirty and tattered. All he could see were the countless faces of the race he had just destroyed when he looked at Erin, the only other Time Lord in the universe. And she was just a child.

"You're welcome," he said shortly, his voice thick with tears as he turned and left. The instant he was out of earshot, he collapsed against the wall and buried his face in his hands with a strangled sob.

* * *

**Not the best or longest beginning, I know. I sort of wrote this in a rush. I wrote out more for Season 3 and 4 than this because...well, you'll see when I get there ;D. I'll try not to go through every single episode, but if you feel I'm making Erin a Mary-Sue, let me know. She _is_ a kid, after all. I'll probably write more for the next chapter! ^_^'**


	2. Meet Rose

**Meet Rose**

"Oh, come on!"

"No." It had been about a week since the Doctor had found Erin and since then, she had been arguing with him to let her come with him on his adventures while he was all for leaving her in an orphanage on Earth after masking her with a Chameleon Arch.

"I've never been outside of Gallifrey before! I wanna see the universe, too!"

"Absolutely not."

"It's not like you can just abandon me somewhere!"

"Can't I?"

"Well, you…oh, you wouldn't _dare_!"

"And what do you know about me?" Erin paused, her mouth half-open and her finger pointing up dramatically in the air, before slumping.

"Yeah, good point. But still, you can't resist this face." She stuck out her lower lip and widened her eyes slightly. The Doctor rolled his eyes as he tinkered with the TARDIS's console. "Please let me come with you? Pleeeeease?" Erin grabbed onto the Doctor's arm, hanging off it as she begged.

"No. It's dangerous, the life I lead."

"It's better than being on my own," she pointed out. He frowned at her before sighing.

"You're right."

"I'm always right, my mum-" She stopped as her throat tightened painfully.

"What?" The Doctor noticed her distress.

"My mum used to say that. That I was always right. Even when I was wrong, I was right." She bit her lip as tears stung her eyes. "They're all gone, aren't they? My friends, my family?"

"I'm sorry," was all she got in response.

"Was your family there, too?" He stared at her silently for a long while.

"Yes," he said at last.

"But that's why we need to stay together. The last of the Time Lords," she said quietly. The Doctor sighed heavily as he knelt in front of her.

"Okay."

"Okay?" A tentative smile tugged at Erin's lips.

"Okay. But you need to follow my orders exactly, 'cause the wrong action at the wrong time could end up destroying the universe. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" Erin mock-saluted and the Doctor grimaced.

"I'm gonna regret this."

"Yeah, you are," Erin agreed and grinned widely, her smile a little too innocent.

* * *

The next day, Erin woke up after a nap. The Doctor had told her that they were going to Earth that day.

She vaguely wondered what the planet was like, since she had never been outside Gallifrey before. Technically, she was only three years old by Gallifreyan standards, too young to have looked into the Untempered Schism and too young to travel on her own. The TARDIS had noticed this, though, and seemed to have toned down her song so that Erin wouldn't be overwhelmed by it. As a result, the younger Time Lord had grown rather fond of the TARDIS.

Erin swung out of bed and dressed into a light pink T-shirt and dark jeans before making her way to the console room.

"Doctor, I-" She froze. There was a blonde teenage girl standing near the console with the Doctor. "Oh. Hi." She waved shyly at the stranger, who smiled nervously.

"Hello. What's your name?"

"Erin. Who're you?" she asked, trying not to be rude as she rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes.

"My name's Rose," the teenage girl replied with a laugh.

"Did I sleep through another adventure?" Erin demanded, rounding on the Doctor.

"Yep," the Doctor said cheerfully.

"Aww, no fair." She scowled. "Stupid small-girl metabolism keeps making me take naps." Rose snorted at Erin's obvious outrage.

"Don't worry, it's not over yet," the Doctor said and Erin then noticed the head attached to the console.

"Please tell me that's not a real head." She grimaced.

"That's my boyfriend!" Rose protested, now shooting a glare at the Doctor.

"You humans are _sick_!" Erin cried, disgusted.

"No, no, no, Erin, he's plastic," the Doctor reassured her.

"Your boyfriend's made of plastic?" Erin asked Rose now, confused.

"He wasn't always!" Rose snapped in the Doctor's direction. The Time Lord conveniently ignored her.

"Okay, I'm just gonna stand here. Confused." Erin nodded. "Oh, and is that head supposed to be melting?"

"Melting?" The Doctor looked to see that the head attached to the console was indeed melting. "Oh, no, no, no, _no_! I can't lose the signal now!" He threw a lever and Erin stumbled back against Rose, who caught her instinctively. The TARDIS steadied itself at last and Erin grinned up at the blonde.

"Thanks." Rose smiled back, unable to help herself against the younger girl's infectious smile. "Oi, where'd you take us now?" Erin called to the Doctor, who ran out of the TARDIS without replying. Rolling her eyes, Erin turned to Rose. "So this is my first time on Earth. Is it nice out there?"

"Lovely," Rose replied, looking bewildered. "Does that mean you're an alien, too?"

"Yep. Same as him." Erin pointed at the half-open door through which the Doctor had just gone.

"Right…" Rose looked on the verge of panicking now.

"Is…is that okay?" Erin bit her lip anxiously.

"Yeah, yeah, that's…but you look human."

"You look Time Lord." Erin giggled and slowly, Rose smiled.

"Well, come on, then. First view of Earth?"

"Yeah." Erin beamed and let Rose take her hand, pulling her through the door. Rose stopped abruptly, staring around her.

"Wait…how did we…? We were in an alley before." She looked back at the TARDIS. "Does this thing fly?"

"Disappears there, reappears here, you wouldn't understand," the Doctor snapped from his spot near the railing, pacing agitatedly while trying to locate some signal on his sonic screwdriver (Erin had learned early on not to poke fun at the weird little device).

"Oh, _wow_," Erin gasped, going to the railing and climbing up onto the lowest metal bar. "Is that a city?" She pointed at the skyline of glittering city lights. "It's amazing!"

"It's called London, the city," Rose explained absently, still staring at the TARDIS in shock.

"London," Erin repeated, still in awe. "_Wow_."

"D'you mind? We've got a Nestene Consciousness on the loose," the Doctor snapped at Erin, who glared at him as she climbed down from the railing.

"I don't even know what that is!"

"Right, you're a kid." The Doctor dismissed her, turning back to his sonic screwdriver. Erin scowled; just because she was a child, that didn't mean she knew nothing. Then she realized Rose was shouting at the Doctor and quickly began paying attention again.

"You just went and forgot him again!" Rose was yelling.

"Look, even if I did forget some kid named Mickey-!" the Doctor began heatedly.

"Yeah, he's not a kid," Rose snapped.

"It's because I'm trying to save the life of every _stupid_ ape blundering on top this planet, all right?" Erin blinked at the harsh words, even though they weren't aimed at her.

"They're not exactly stupid, are they, if they built something as brilliant as this?" She pointed at the London skyline again.

"Oh, please." The Doctor rolled his eyes at her. "You want brilliant? Check out Barcelona. The planet, not the Earth city," he aimed at Rose, who looked as if she was going to protest.

"If you two are alien, how come_ you_ sound like you're from the North?" the blonde demanded, looking at the Doctor.

"Lots of planets have a north," the Doctor argued and Erin giggled.

"And_ you_ sound like you're from central London," Rose said, turning to Erin.

"Lots of planets have a center, too," the younger Time Lord replied cheekily. Rose rolled her eyes, causing Erin to giggle even more.

"What's a police public call box?" the blonde asked next as she pointed at the words printed around the top of the TARDIS.

"A telephone box from the 1950s." The Doctor patted the side of the TARDIS fondly. "It's a disguise." Erin rolled her eyes.

"Do you two need some alone time?" Rose began to snicker as the Doctor threw Erin a dirty look.

"Oh, I _knew_ I'd regret having you tag along," he said irritably.

"You know you love me!" Erin beamed innocently. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"This living plastic. What does it have against us?" Rose asked, turning the Time Lords' attention back to her.

"Nothing, it loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air...perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth...dinner!" the Doctor explained cheerfully.

"So how do we stop it?" Erin asked, grimacing at the thought. The Doctor pulled out a vial of blue liquid.

"Anti-plastic!"

"Anti-plastic," Rose echoed blankly.

"Anti-plastic!" the Doctor repeated, grinning widely. "But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

"What?" both Erin and Rose said at the same time, confused.

"The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"What does it look like?" Rose questioned.

"Like a transmitter. Round and massive. Huge circular metal structure…like a dish…like a wheel. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible." The Doctor paced around and came to a stop in front of the Ferris Wheel in the distance. Erin and Rose stared. "What?" Rose pointed behind him. He turned around and then looked back at her. "What?" Erin rolled her eyes, pointing again. "What is it? What?"

He turned around and finally saw the Ferris Wheel.

"Oh." He turned back to the girls, beaming. "Fantastic!" And with that, he was off, Erin and Rose racing after him with mutual exasperated sighs.

* * *

**...I'm gonna regret updating this soon, aren't I?**

**Nine: Yeah, you probably are, Bat.**

**Me: GAH! Nine, you need to wear a bell, seriously.**

**Nine: *ignores me like a boss* Your story quality's gonna suffer if you hurry to finish chapters like this.**

**Me: Oh, bugger off, Nine. My nonexistent fans will be happy.**

**Oh, and also, I apologize if I screwed up Rose's character. I've never been really good at writing her since I never really connected with her character as much as some of the other companions. Sorry! D:**

**Can I just say that I'm a review whore? I don't even care if you don't favorite or story alert this, but for the love of Eccleston, review, please! I just really, really want people's opinions on how I'm doing...sorry if that bothers you guys. Bleh. I'll stop rambling now...**


	3. The Nestene Consciousness

**The Nestene Consciousness**

"Where are we going?" Erin asked the Doctor when she and Rose caught up with him at the base of the London Eye (which was apparently what the Ferris Wheel was called, according to Rose. Erin didn't quite understand this, since it looked nothing like an actual eye).

"Down here." The Doctor jumped over the railing and ran to a porthole. He twisted it open and Erin grimaced at the nasty smell.

"Eww. Is that a sewer?"

"Yep." The Doctor grinned widely. "Come on, then." Erin looked at Rose, who shrugged and followed the Doctor down. With a sigh, Erin climbed in after them.

"Is that it?" she asked, pointing at the large vat beneath them, the yellow contents of which were bubbling and frothing angrily.

"Yep. The Nestene Consciousness. A living plastic creature," the Doctor replied cheerfully.

"Well, go on, tip in your anti-plastic and let's go," Rose said.

"I'm not here to kill it. Got to give it a chance first," the Doctor argued as they made their way down the stairs. "I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract, according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation," he called out to the vat. The Consciousness flobbled a little. "Thank you. That I might have permission to approach." Erin may have been a Time Lord, but she was just as confused as Rose at that point.

"Oh my God, Mickey!" Rose gasped suddenly and ran down the stairs towards a young man huddled against a lower level. The Doctor rolled his eyes and Erin gave him a reprimanding look. He conveniently ignored it.

"That thing down there, that liquid, Rose…it can talk!" Mickey stammered as he clung to Rose, shaking.

"You're stinking!" Rose told him in response, wrinkling her nose at the smell of the sewer lingering on him. "Doctor, they kept him alive!" she called up to the Doctor.

"Oh, yeah, that was always a possibility," he commented casually. "Keep him alive and maintain the copy."

"What, and you couldn't've bothered mentioning that sooner?" Erin demanded, frowning at him. "You could've saved Rose a lot of worry."

"Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" he snapped back at her. She shrugged helplessly at Rose, who shrugged back with a small grin. "Am I addressing the Consciousness?" the Doctor asked the vat, which bubbled in response. "Thank you. If I might observe, you've infiltrated this world by means of warped, shunt technology. So may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?"

Erin snorted at the play on words, but then the Consciousness made an angry growling noise, scaring her into shutting up quickly.

"Oh, don't give me that, it's an invasion, plain and simple! Don't talk about constitutional rights!" the Doctor snapped back. The Consciousness seemed to rear a misshapen head furiously. "I - am - _talking_!" the Doctor said loudly, silencing the Consciousness effectively. Erin couldn't help but gape at her fellow Time Lord, stunned. "This planet is only just starting. These stupid little people have only just learned how to walk, but they're capable of so much more," the Doctor said quietly, trying to reason with the Consciousness. "I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go."

"Doctor!" Erin cried as rough plastic hands suddenly grabbed her from behind, dangling her over the vat below.

"Erin!" she vaguely heard Rose gasp from below, sounding worried as two other plastic dummies grabbed the Doctor, pulling the anti-plastic out of his pocket.

"Oh, that was just insurance!" the Doctor attempted to placate the globbering Consciousness. "I wasn't going to use it!"

"I don't think it believes you!" Erin said unhelpfully as the Consciousness roared angrily. The dummy holding her gave her a blank look (as if it could give her any other look) and dropped her.

"ERIN!" she heard the Doctor shout as she fell. She reached out and grabbed a metal railing to keep herself from falling all the way. Now she hung precariously from the bridge above the Consciousness.

"Erin?" Rose leaned over the edge of her platform, looking terrified.

"I'm okay!" Erin called back, struggling to pull herself up onto the bridge.

"That wasn't necessary!" the Doctor was now yelling at the Consciousness. "She's not a part of this, she's just a child!" The Consciousness seemed to accuse him of something. "I was not attacking you, I'm here to help! I'm not your enemy, I swear, I'm not-" He frowned. "What do you mean?" The doors above his head opened to reveal the TARDIS. "Oh, no, honestly, no! Yes, that's my ship," the Doctor sighed. Erin cleared her throat, scowling, as she rolled onto the bridge at last. "_Our_ ship," he corrected, disgruntled at having to share with a child.

"That's right," Erin agreed smugly, but then the Consciousness spoke again and the Doctor's expression changed to one of deep sorrow and hurt.

"That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war-" The Consciousness roared. "It wasn't my fault! I couldn't save your world, I couldn't save any of them!" Erin's eyes widened as she got to her feet and ran up to the level where Rose and Mickey were. The Doctor had told her, very briefly, about the Time War that had destroyed Gallifrey. Had it really stretched this far and hurt so many species?

"What's it doing?" Rose demanded, bewildered and scared, as Erin reached her and Mickey.

"It's the TARDIS! The Nestene has identified its superior technology - it's terrified!" the Doctor replied, not looking at them. "It's going to the final base! It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Leg it, and take Erin with you!"

"Don't be thick, I'm not going anywhere without you!" Erin snapped back at the Doctor as Rose pulled her mobile out and dialed a number.

"Mum?" Erin frowned at Rose; why would Rose call her mother rather than try to escape the clearly-dangerous sewer they were trapped in? "Where are you, Mum? No, go home, go home right now! Mum? Mum!" Rose closed her phone, looking upset. "Come on!" She grabbed both Erin's hand and Mickey's arm, pulling them up the stairs to the highest level. A blue signal seemed to emit from the Consciousness.

"Doctor, what's it doing?" Erin called desperately.

"It's the activation signal!" the Doctor called back to Erin grimly. "It's transmitting!"

"The end of the world," Rose breathed, horrified. Suddenly, part of the ceiling caved in, blocking the stairs.

"Oh, fantastic, the stairs have gone!" Mickey complained, kicking the rubble.

"Well spotted," Erin snipped in response.

"Can't you unlock the TARDIS?" Rose demanded as she tried the TARDIS doors only to find that they were locked.

"I haven't got a key," Erin replied casually.

"You're so helpful," Rose said irritably.

"Well, I can't be trusted with keys, I'm a child!" Erin complained, throwing her hands in the air helplessly.

"We're gonna die!" Mickey wailed.

"Your boyfriend's a wuss," Erin commented to Rose, who simply shrugged, not bothering to defend Mickey's actions.

"What do we do, then, Time Lord?" the blonde asked Erin, who bit her lip.

"I dunno." She could see the Doctor struggling to reach the anti-plastic below them. Rose seemed to come to a decision.

"Right, then." She strode over to an axe on the wall.

"Oh, that's convenient." Erin blinked at the bizarre wall attachment. "You humans keep a weapon on the wall all the time?" Rose snorted as she pulled it off.

"Got no A-levels, no job, no future." She hacked at a chain on the wall, releasing it. "Tell you what I _have_ got, though. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team." She gave Erin a bright smile. "I got the bronze!" Erin couldn't help but giggle as Rose swung down to the platform, grabbing the anti-plastic from the dummy holding it and tossing it into the vat below.

"Yeah, go, Rose!" Erin cheered, unable to keep from laughing in relief. The Doctor caught Rose, grinning widely, as the Consciousness began to writhe and scream in pain.

"Now we're in trouble," the Doctor said and grabbed Rose's hand as they ran up the stairs to where Erin and Mickey were waiting. The latter was cowering on the floor near Erin's legs, causing the younger Time Lord to give him an odd look.

"Seriously, all humans are wusses," she told the Doctor, who shrugged.

"Oi!" Rose complained and Erin gave her an innocent grin.

"All _other_ humans, I mean." Rose allowed that, ruffling Erin's mahogany hair affectionately as the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS, letting them all pile in.

"Erin, that lever!" The Doctor pointed at the lever in question and Erin pulled it as he pulled another one. The TARDIS then dematerialized out of the sewer.

"All right, we're clear," the Doctor said and Erin practically collapsed against Rose in relief. The blonde girl laughed and shoved Erin off her, causing the younger Time Lord to giggle and shove her back. Mickey remained pressed against the TARDIS doors, his eyes wide and his expression terrified. When the TARDIS stuttered to a stop, he was the first out the door, stumbling out into a dark alleyway. Rose came out next, calling her mother on her phone to check on her. With a laugh at whatever her mother was saying, she hung up without a word.

"Your mum's okay, then?" Erin guessed and Rose nodded, ruffling her hair affectionately. Erin giggled and ducked away.

"Fat lot of good_ you_ were," Rose said to Mickey, who was huddled against the alley wall, whimpering.

"Nestene Consciousness?" The Doctor snapped his fingers behind Erin. "Easy."

"Oh, please, if Rose hadn't been there, we would've been doomed," Erin retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, we would." The Doctor was looking at Rose now, not Erin. "Thank you." Rose smiled in response. "Right, then, we'll be off!" Erin noted with satisfaction that he said "we." "Unless, uh..I dunno…you could come with me." Erin scowled and elbowed him, causing him to wince. "_Us_," he corrected grudgingly. And he had been doing so well with the inclusion, too.

Rose gave them a dubious look, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"The TARDIS isn't just a London hopper," the Doctor added. "It goes anywhere in the universe, free of charge."

"Don't! They're aliens! _Things_!" Mickey cried from behind Rose.

"He's not invited," Erin said pointedly, insulted, and Rose grinned at her. "Come on,_ someone's_ gotta keep this idiot from getting his thick head into danger all the time." That earned a dirty look from the older Time Lord. "He's not gonna listen to a kid like me." Erin shrugged, smiling hopefully.

"What do you think? You could stay here and fill your life with work and food and sleep or you could go…anywhere." The Doctor mimicked Erin's hopeful smile.

"Is it always this dangerous?" Rose asked and Erin's smile faltered; she could tell Rose was going to reject the offer.

"Yeah," the Doctor said quietly, knowing what Rose was going to say. Mickey placed his arms around Rose's legs, causing both Rose and Erin to laugh.

"Yeah, I can't. Someone's gotta look after this lump." Rose patted Mickey affectionately on the head. Erin smiled, a little sad, but understanding Rose's decision. "Besides, I've gotta go find my mum."

"Okay. See you around," the Doctor said cheerfully, as if he had never offered, and Erin gave him a sharp look. He nodded to her before disappearing inside the TARDIS. She turned back.

"Bye, Rose." She smiled. "Nice meeting you."

"You, too, Erin." Rose smiled warmly and Erin went into the TARDIS, shutting the door behind her as the Doctor pulled the lever to get them out of there.

"So we just left her," Erin said slowly.

"Yep."

"Come on, you totally want her along," Erin prompted, causing the Doctor to grin slowly.

"She _was_ fantastic today."

"Right?" Erin beamed widely. "Can't we go back for her?"

"She's not a puppy you can just _keep_," the Doctor reprimanded.

"Come on, _pleas_e?" Erin pouted and the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"I swear, it just gets harder and harder to say no to you. All right, back we go!" Erin grinned as he pulled the lever again, bringing them back to the alley. He strode to the door and popped his head out. "By the way, did I mention it travels in time, too?" Not even a minute later, Rose came running into the TARDIS, smiling widely.

"Right, then, off we go?" Erin asked hopefully.

"Off we go!" Rose replied eagerly and Erin beamed before hugging her tightly. With a surprised laugh, Rose hugged her back.

* * *

**Me: So apparently my Computer Programming lectures are useful after all. They give me motivation to write the next chapter of my fanfic!**

**Rose: You really should pay attention in class.**

**Me: Oh, bugger off, Rose, you're just as bad as Nine.**

**Rose: Who?**

**Me: Erm...the Doctor.**

**Rose: Why's he Nine?**

**Me: ...spoilers?**

**Reviews are love. Click the pretty button below...that's right, just down there...;D **


	4. The Museum of Aliens

**The Museum of Aliens**

The Doctor had gone a little out of his way to show off to Rose, Erin mused after some time had gone by. He had taken her to the end of the world and then to Christmas of 1869. Of course, they had all nearly gotten themselves killed during both of those adventures, but it was the thought that counted.

The real trouble had started when Rose had wanted to go home to see her mother. A year had passed rather than twelve hours, and Rose's mother, Jackie, had been frantic with anger and worry. She had actually slapped the Doctor (the memory still made Erin giggle every now and then). Then a spaceship had crashed into the big towering clock in London (Rose had told Erin this clock was called Big Ben. Erin didn't quite understand that any more than she did the London Eye).

The spaceship had turned out to be a fake, but a family of real aliens called the Slitheen had invaded, trying to destroy the Earth. The Doctor had defeated them with Mickey's help (who knew Rose's old boyfriend would have been useful?) and Jackie had given her blessing for Rose to travel with them, a fact which made Erin hug the older woman, thanking her repeatedly.

"I'm glad you're still traveling with us," Erin said happily a few days later as Rose and she explored the TARDIS's library.

"Yeah, I got that after the first ten times you said it," Rose replied affectionately with a laugh, reaching out to tousle the younger girl's hair. Erin made a protesting sound and ducked out of Rose's reach. Rose only laughed. "Honestly, you're like the little sister I never had!" Erin bit her lip shyly.

"Yeah?"

"'Course." Rose ruffled her hair again and Erin allowed it this time, giggling. "Oh, hey, what's this one?" Rose reached out for a book on the shelf.

"Erm…" Erin grabbed it quickly and skimmed the title. "Yeah, you can't read that."

"Why not?" Rose looked indignant.

"It's the seventh Harry Potter book," Erin replied, grinning sheepishly. "It hasn't been released in your time. Spoilers!"

"Oh, that's a good one," the Doctor said from the doorway and the girls turned, startled.

"Don't do that!" Erin gasped as he approached them, grinning widely.

"Don't tell me I scared you." Rose smacked his leather-clad arm in response, causing him to wince. Suddenly, a loud blaring alarm resounded through the TARDIS.

"What's that?" Erin demanded, surprised.

"Sounds like a signal or something, reaching out to the TARDIS." The Doctor ran out of the library, Rose right behind him. Erin rolled her eyes, used to being left behind often, and placed the Harry Potter book back on the shelf before following the Doctor and Rose to the main console.

"We're changing course," the Doctor was explaining to Rose when Erin entered the room. The TARDIS jerked suddenly as it came to a stop, Erin stumbling and falling against Rose. The human girl caught her quickly, steadying her.

"All right?" she asked.

"Yep." Erin rolled her eyes. "I have a feeling I'm never going to get used to that." Rose grinned as she and the Doctor walked out of the TARDIS. Erin followed and found herself in a large dark room.

"Where are we?" Rose was asking.

"Earth, Utah, North America. About half a mile underground," the Doctor replied, scanning around himself with the sonic screwdriver.

"And when are we?" Rose added.

"2012," the Doctor answered.

"God, that's so close," Rose murmured. "I should be about…26."

"Old," Erin teased and Rose swiped at her head goodnaturedly. The younger girl dodged it, giggling, and went to the wall, feeling for a light switch. She found it and flicked it on.

"Blimey, it's a great big museum!" Rose gasped and Erin turned to find that Rose was right. Glass cases filled with miscellaneous objects lined the walls.

"An alien museum," the Doctor corrected, studying the cases grimly. "Someone's got a hobby. They must've spent a fortune on this. Chunks of meteorite, space dust…that's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship." Erin peered at the little circular milometer, fascinated.

"That's a bit of Slitheen!" Rose gasped suddenly and Erin looked up sharply to see that Rose was inspecting a case with a green Slitheen's arm. "That's a Slitheen's arm, stuffed!"

"Look at you," the Doctor said then, sounding both awed and disgusted. Erin saw him approaching a display case with a metallic head inside.

"What is that?" Rose asked.

"An old friend of mine. Well…" The Doctor grimaced. "Enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit." He paused, a realization coming over him. "I'm getting old."

"Is that where the signal came from?" Erin questioned, remembering why they had come here.

"No, it's stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out." The Doctor stared intently at the metallic head. "Calling for help." He absently touched the glass and a loud alarm went off.

"Again?" Rose complained, clapping her hands over her ears against the volume.

"Oops," the Doctor said and Erin gave him a dirty look, covering her own ears. Abruptly, a door opened and soldiers came rushing in, all aiming their guns at Rose, the Doctor, and Erin.

"If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you two Exhibit A," Rose said and Erin sighed.

"Why am I always at gunpoint when I'm with you?" she asked the Doctor plaintively, earning only a sheepish grin in response.

* * *

They were pushed into a small office, where a balding man sat behind a desk, a teenage boy about Rose's age and a young woman standing on either side of his chair.

"What does it do?" the man was asking as he took a small device from the boy. Erin noticed he had a different accent from most of the people she had met on previous adventures.

"Well, the tubes on the sides must be to channel something, I think maybe fuel-" the boy began to explain. He had Rose's accent.

"I wouldn't hold it like that," the Doctor interrupted, looking at the man, who was apparently holding the device wrong.

"Shut it," the woman said sharply.

"Really, though, that's wrong," the Doctor insisted.

"Why, is it dangerous?" the boy asked.

"Nah, just looks silly." The Doctor held his hand out for the object and the soldiers surrounding them lifted their guns threateningly. Erin hid behind Rose, burying her face into the human girl's back. The man lifted his hand casually and the guns lowered, causing Erin to relax. The man handed the device to the Doctor. "You just need to be…" The Doctor ran his fingers over the device gently and a lovely musical note came out. "Delicate." He smiled proudly.

"It's a musical instrument," the man said, surprised.

"And it's a long way from home," the Doctor replied.

"Here, let me," the man said, standing and taking the instrument roughly.

"I did say 'delicate,'" the Doctor reminded, raising his eyebrows reprimandingly. "It reacts to the smallest fingerprint." The instrument made ugly bleeping noises when the man attempted to play it. "It requires precision," the Doctor hinted. At last, a few sweet notes came out of the device. "Very good," the Doctor said proudly. "Quite the expert."

"As are you," the man said and carelessly tossed the instrument aside. Erin quickly caught it before it hit the floor, scowling at the mistreatment of the instrument. The Doctor was also giving the man a disdainful look.

"Who are you?" the man demanded.

"I'm the Doctor. Who're you?" the Doctor replied brusquely.

"Like you don't know," the man replied coolly. "We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extraterrestrial artifacts in the world and you just stumbled in by mistake."

"Seems to be that way a lot around us," Erin said with a shrug and the man gave her a dirty look, as if it was beneath him to acknowledge a child.

"The question is, how did you get in?" he now addressed the Doctor. "53 floors down. With your little cat burglar accomplice." Did he just ignore Erin's presence? "Quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty."

"She's gonna smack you if you keep calling her 'she,'" Rose snapped and Erin grinned, unable to hide her amusement.

"She's English, too!" the man said with a cold laugh. "Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy, got you a girlfriend!" he shot back at the boy standing next to him, who shuffled embarrassedly.

"This is Mr. Henry Van Statten," he said.

"Who's he when he's at home?" Erin muttered.

"Mr. Van Statten owns the Internet," the boy added.

"Don't be stupid, no one _owns_ the Internet," Rose argued.

"And let's keep the world thinkin' that way, right, kids?" Van Statten said smugly. Erin resisted the strong impulse to punch him in the face.

"So you're an expert on just about everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up," the Doctor spat.

"And you claim greater knowledge?" Van Statten sneered.

"He doesn't need to claim anything, he is smarter than you," Erin snapped, earning an affectionate smile from the Doctor for her support.

"And yet I captured your _hero_ right next to the Cage," Van Statten said coldly, scowling at the younger Time Lord. She huddled against Rose's side, clutching the musical instrument in her hand. "What were you doing down there?"

"You tell us," the Doctor replied simply.

"The Cage contains my one living specimen." Rose squeezed Erin's free hand, asking silently if that was the signal they had been searching for. Erin nodded once, keeping her eyes on Van Statten.

"And what's that?" the Doctor asked.

"Like you don't know."

"Show me."

"You wanna see it?"

"Blimey, you can smell the testosterone," Rose joked weakly, causing Erin to snort, amused, as she placed the instrument in her pocket, tired of holding it.

"Goddard, inform the Cage. We're heading down," Van Statten said to the woman, who walked briskly out. "You, English. Look after the girls. Canoodle or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name…come and see my pet."

"On the condition that the kid comes." Erin stared at the Doctor, startled. He winked at her. "Be good for her to be exposed to more alien life." She shrugged helplessly at Rose before following the Doctor and Van Statten into an elevator. She could feel the Doctor placing his hand against her shoulder, the physical contact enough to open a telepathic link.

_What are you doing?_ she asked silently. _You hate dragging me in on adventures._

_Yeah, well. Figured I'd make an exception this time_, he replied, his expression not giving away their conversation.

_Thanks._ He shifted slightly, seemingly embarrassed by her gratitude.

_Yeah, whatever._ As the elevator doors opened again, this time in a basement of some sort, the three of them stepped out.

"We've tried everything," Van Statten said as he led them to a door. "The creature's shielded itself, but there's definite signs of life inside."

"Inside what?" the Doctor asked, finally taking his hand off Erin's shoulder and allowing her to walk ahead of him.

"Welcome back, sir," one of the guards said to Van Statten. "I've had to take the power down. The Metaltron's resting."

"Metaltron?" Erin asked, confused. Judging by the look on the Doctor's face, he hadn't heard of the name either.

"Thought of it myself," Van Statten explained. "Good, isn't it? Though I'd much prefer to find out its real name."

"You'd better put on gloves," the guard said to the Doctor and Erin, picking up gloves and holding them out. "The last guy that touched it burst into flames."

"We won't touch it, then," Erin said, grimacing. The Doctor snorted at her simple solution.

"Go ahead, impress us," Goddard, the snarky woman from before, said smugly. Erin went into the room first, but as the Doctor moved to step in, the door slid shut in his face.

"Oh, must be a glitch in the door," Van Statten said, unconcerned, as the Doctor wheeled around to face him angrily. "Look, we can monitor her on here." He pointed to a monitor and the Doctor rushed over.

"She's trapped in the room with an unknown alien, she'd better be safe," he snarled at the humans around him. They all subtly flinched at his rage as he turned his attention back to the monitor.

"Erin? Erin, can you hear me?"

* * *

**Ohhh. Leaving it there.**** I decided to skip episodes 2-5 because they're not really key to Erin's development as a person, but I'll make up for it by adding random little adventures between episodes.**

**Nine: Oh, hey, updating during class again, are we?**

**Me: Damn it, Nine!**

**Nine: *singsong* You're gonna fail all your exams~!**

**Me: I know, I've already accepted it *sigh*.**

**Review? No? Okay :(.**


	5. The Dalek

** The Dalek**

The room was pitch-black except for a single blue light in the center of the room. Erin blindly felt for a light switch, but found none.

"Erin? Erin, can you hear me?" she could hear the Doctor saying over the intercom.

"Yeah, I hear you! It's okay, it's just really dark in here!" she called back. "Hello?" she called into the darkness. "Listen, I'm sorry about Van Statten, he thinks he's being clever, but I know he's hurting you. I have a friend, he's called the Doctor. He can help you."

"Doc…tor…?" a robotic voice spoke slowly.

"No." Erin stumbled back, her eyes widening in horror. "It can't be." She knew that voice. She would know that voice anywhere.

"_The_ Doctor?" The voice grew louder.

"Erin, get out of there!" she could hear the Doctor shouting from the other room. "Get her out of there!" he yelled at the people near him. No one seemed to move, though, for the door didn't open. Either way, Erin was frozen to the spot, terrified, as the lights came on to reveal a very familiar robotic alien.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" the Dalek cried desperately, but it couldn't move, either. Erin stared at the restrained Dalek, her fear slowly being replaced with indignant fury.

"Look at you, the almighty Dalek! Reduced to a showcase piece!" she spat coldly.

"I…recognize…your…voice pattern." Erin went still at the chilling words. "You…are…the little girl…from…the red house." This was the Dalek that had shot her and torn away her first identity.

"I remember. You killed my mother. And then you shot me." The words were laced with bitterness, and she knew the Doctor was watching from the other room.

"How…did you…survive?" The Dalek's speech was broken and slow.

"I regenerated." Her fist clenched almost unconsciously as she scowled. "Look at you. The great space dustbin, how does it feel?" The Dalek slid back slightly in its chains as she stepped forward.

"Keep back!"

"What for?" Erin demanded, moving until her nose was barely inches from the Dalek's eyestalk. "What'll you do to me?" The Dalek remained silent as she stepped back at last, pacing around it. "If you can't kill, then what are you good for?" The Dalek followed her with its eyepiece, which swiveled to track her movements. "Why are you here?" she asked at last, stopping in front of the Dalek again.

"I am…waiting for orders."

"What do you mean?" Erin asked.

"I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders," the Dalek continued.

"You're never gonna get any," Erin snapped back.

"I demand orders!"

"They'll never come! The rest of the Daleks were destroyed, completely wiped out by the Doctor!" she spat.

"And what of the Time Lords?" She froze, her hearts clenching painfully as the Dalek delivered the question coldly.

"Dead. They burned with you. Everyone lost," she whispered.

"And the cowards survived." Erin's anger returned swiftly.

"Oh, and we got your little message, too," she said mockingly. "Help me. Poor little thing. But no one else will come because no one else is left."

"I am alone in the universe," the Dalek said slowly, lowering its eyepiece sadly.

"Yep." Erin didn't even bother to feel sorry for it. It brought its eyepiece up sharply.

"So are you and the Doctor. We are the same."

"I am _nothing_ like y-" She stopped suddenly. "Wait. Okay. Yeah. Maybe we _are_ the same. 'Cause I know what to do! I know what you deserve!" As she spoke, she backed up towards the lever that controlled the voltage of the Dalek's chains. She grasped the lever and the Dalek's eyepiece seemed to glow brighter, as if it was widening an eye in fear. She smiled coldly. "Exterminate!" She pulled the lever and the Dalek screamed as shocks traveled through it.

"Have mercy!"

"Did _you_ have mercy when you killed my mother in front of me? Did _you_ have mercy when you shot me and took away my life?" Erin shouted back at it furiously.

"Help me!" the Dalek cried as the door slid open suddenly.

"Get out!" Van Statten snapped at Erin, shoving her away from the lever and turning the voltage off. Erin fell to the floor, her palms scraping against the concrete, and the Doctor pulled her to her feet, clutching her protectively against his side as he glared at the Dalek.

"Come on," he muttered to Erin, barely keeping the anger out of his voice as he led her out of the room.

"You're mad at me," Erin said quietly when they were outside the Cage. The Doctor sighed as he knelt in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"No. I would've done the same thing. Mind you, it's still not the right thing, but-"

"I know. I lost it." She bit her lip. "Everything I grew up with, everything I knew…it's all gone because of that same Dalek. I hate it." She could feel a distinct burning in her eyes and wiped at her eyes to stop the tears before they fell.

"I know." The Doctor's voice was strangled, just as it had been the night he had met her. As Van Statten left the Cage, followed by Goddard and all of the guards besides the first one, the Doctor stood quickly, squeezing Erin's shoulders once more.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Van Statten shouted at Erin, who flinched. "You could've killed my only living specimen!"

"Shut up!" the Doctor snapped back. "You should've destroyed the Dalek the instant you found it! And don't you _dare_ shout at Erin!" Erin clutched the Doctor's leather jacket tightly as she buried her face into his side. Without another word, the Doctor turned around, Erin still huddled against his side, and headed for the lifts. Soon, Van Statten, Goddard, and the other guards followed.

As the doors shut behind them, Erin could vaguely hear the Dalek screaming again as the first guard, Simmons, tortured it once more.

* * *

**Welp, I got my Calc exam back and to my surprise, I did _not_ fail. 89 percent, WOOT! Although I think Physics screwed me over. And Computer Programming will, too, because I'm too busy writing this story to care about that class XD.**

**A few notes on Erin's reaction to the Dalek: I realize that she may come off as OOC here, but she reacts like the Doctor did in the episode for the same reason he did. This specific Dalek killed both her mother and her in her first life and she bears resentment towards it as a result. You don't see it much in the first few chapters because she's still a child. Put a child in a room with someone who's wronged them, though, and they go into a _rage_. Trust me, I've seen it happen with my three-year-old cousin whenever I make her angry over something.**

**I'm sorry if you're angry with me for epically screwing up or something, but that's just the way I view Erin's reaction. Not to mention that she also empathizes with the Doctor's pain, so she knows how much it hurts to be the last two of their kind and to have lost everything she once knew.**

**Nine: ...**

**Me: Awfully quiet today, aren't you?**

**Nine: *sniffles***

**Me: 0.0 Oh God, please tell me you're not crying. I can't handle Sad!Doctor.**

**Nine: Dust. In my eye. *sniffles and wipes eyes***

**Me: Erm...awkward...*pats his shoulder* There, there, Doc, the Dalek'll die soon.**

**Nine: *cheers up a _little_ too quickly* :D**


	6. The Bunker Battle

**The Bunker Battle**

"The metal's just battle armor," the Doctor explained as the lift began to move. "The real Dalek creature's inside."

"What does it look like?" Van Statten demanded.

"A nightmare. It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered. Every single emotion was removed except hate." Erin huddled against the Doctor's side, recalling the cold, robotic voice of the Dalek.

"Genetically engineered by whom?" Van Statten asked, looking intrigued. Erin wanted to hit him for being so stupid, for thinking the creation of the Dalek amazing. It was a monster that didn't deserve appreciation.

"By a genius, Van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world. You'd like him," the Doctor answered harshly.

"It's been on Earth for fifty years," Goddard said before the tension in the lift could escalate. "Sold at a private auction, moving from one collection to another. Why would it be a threat now?"

"Because we're here," Erin answered before the Doctor could. "But how did it get to Earth in the first place?"

"Records say it came from the sky like a meteorite. It fell to the Earth on the Ascension Islands. Burned in its crater for three days before anyone could get near it and all that time, it was screaming. Must've gone insane," Goddard said smugly.

"It must've fallen through time," the Doctor reasoned, glancing at Erin. "The only survivor."

"You talked about a war?" Van Statten prompted.

"The Time War, the last battle between our people and the Daleks," Erin explained.

"But you two survived, too," Van Statten noted. The Doctor's grasp on Erin tightened.

"Not by choice," he said quietly, causing Erin to look up at him, stunned by the revelation.

"This means that the Dalek isn't the only alien on Earth, there's you two. The only ones of your kind in existence." Erin didn't like the gleam in Van Statten's eyes as he said that.

* * *

"Let him go!" she found herself shouting only minutes later as the Doctor was wrestled onto a large rack, his wrists and ankles restrained by leather cuffs. The guards had already stripped him of his leather jacket and jumper, leaving him bare-chested. "You leave him alone!" Erin continued to protest loudly.

"Shut the kid up," Van Statten said carelessly to one of the guards, who roughly grabbed Erin and covered her mouth. She bit into his hand, causing him to yelp and release her. Van Statten gave her an annoyed look, but ignored her as he turned back to the Doctor. "Now, smile!" With that, he turned the x-ray machine in front of him on. The Doctor grimaced, convulsing in pain as the x-ray machine scanned his chest.

"Doctor!" Erin ran forward to try and stop the machine, but another guard grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back.

"Two hearts!" Van Statten said, looking pleased as he examined the x-ray image. "Binary vascular system! Oh, I am _so_ going to patent this!"

"So that's your secret," the Doctor rasped harshly as he recovered. "You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it."

"This technology's been falling to the Earth for years. All it took was the right mind to use it properly," Van Statten replied smugly.

"Any other mind but yours?" Erin piped up angrily, glaring at the human. Van Statten threw her another annoyed glance before continuing.

"The advances I've made from alien technology, you wouldn't understand, Doctor. Broadband? Roswell. Just last year, my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian Crater, and do you know what they found?" The Doctor only raised his eyebrows at Van Statten. "The cure for the common cold."

"But that's good, isn't it? You could sell it worldwide and solve a lot of problems," Erin pointed out.

"No need to get people excited," Van Statten dismissed. "Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?" Erin glared at him, furious.

"Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten?" the Doctor asked quietly at last. "A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species. That creature in your dungeon is better than you."

"In that case, I will be true to myself and continue," Van Statten said simply in response and walked back to the x-ray machine.

"Listen to me, that thing downstairs is going to kill everyone!" the Doctor argued.

"Nothing can escape the Cage," Van Statten replied smugly as he moved to turn on the machine. The Doctor writhed in pain as the machine scanned him again.

"But it's awake, it knows we're here!" Erin protested. "No one here is safe, please just let the Doctor help!"

"_You_ have talked enough," Van Statten told Erin coldly, nodding to one of the guards holding her. The guard in question hit Erin in the face, causing her to stumble and collapse to the floor, clutching her rapidly-bruising cheek.

"Erin!" the Doctor shouted, but groaned in pain once more as the scan repeated itself. Van Statten only smiled coldly, uncaring of the damage he was inflicting on them. Suddenly, the intercom crackled with static.

"Condition red, repeat, condition red! This is not a drill!" Van Statten looked up and then at the Doctor, who looked back at him grimly.

"Release me if you want to live." The Doctor was quickly freed and he stalked out of the room as he pulled on his jumper and leather jacket, Erin scrambling to her feet and following behind.

"Is it the Dalek?" she asked desperately as they entered Van Statten's office. The Doctor didn't answer as he turned on the monitor on the wall.

"You've got to keep it in that cell," he said.

"Doctor, it's all my fault," Rose's voice came through the communications link as her face appeared on the screen. How had she gotten down there?

"I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations," the guard answered the Doctor.

"Problem solved, then, right?" Erin asked.

"The Dalek's a genius," the Doctor replied, looking down at her. "It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat." Just then, the door slid open and Erin watched as the Dalek slowly trundled into the room.

"Open fire!" the guard yelled as he and his companions opened fire.

"Rose, get out of there!" the Doctor shouted as Rose and the other boy, whom Erin hadn't noticed before, ran out of the room, following a female guard. Suddenly, the Dalek moved towards the communications monitor. Its eyepiece focused on Erin's face and she shivered, clutching the Doctor's hand as he held her close to his side. Abruptly, the Dalek's plunger shot out and the image became static.

"What happened?" Erin demanded, terrified.

"It's broken the screen," Goddard said and ran to the computer, typing rapidly. The Doctor, Van Statten, and Erin peered over her shoulder at the screen as the lights in the room flickered. "We're losing power. It's draining the base. Oh my God, it's draining the entire power supply for the whole of Utah."

"It's downloading," the Doctor said grimly.

"Downloading what?" Van Statten asked.

"Sir, the entire West Coast just went down," Goddard informed him.

"It's not just energy," the Doctor said. "The Dalek just absorbed the entire Internet. It knows everything." Erin's eyes widened in horror. If the Dalek knew everything, it was basically unstoppable.

"We've lost cameras," Goddard said.

"It's eaten all the power except emergency, we need to kill it now!" the Doctor insisted.

"All guards to converge in the Metaltron cage immediately," Goddard ordered into an intercom. The sound of gunfire soon came through as a response, coupled with screams as the Dalek retorted with its laser.

"Tell them to stop shooting at it!" Van Statten protested.

"Are you an idiot?" the Doctor snapped at him furiously. "People are dying!"

"They're dispensable, that Dalek's unique!" Van Statten shot back.

"The gunfire's stopped," Erin realized suddenly. The Doctor and Van Statten fell silent, both staring at her as they realized that no sound came from the intercom. The Dalek had killed all of the soldiers.

Goddard pulled up a map of the base.

"That's us right below the surface," she said, pointing to the map. "That's the cage…and that's the Dalek." The blue light indicating the Dalek was moving closer and closer to the office where they were.

"This museum, does it have any weapons?" the Doctor asked.

"Tons, but the Dalek's between them and us," Goddard replied.

"We could just seal the vault, trap it in there," Van Statten said hopefully.

"We are not leaving Rose and all those other people down there with that monster!" Erin snapped.

"What's that area?" the Doctor asked, pointing to an area between the office and the Dalek.

"Weapons testing," Goddard replied.

"Give guns to everyone, the lawyers, technicians. Only chance of killing the Dalek," the Doctor replied, taking her place at the computer. Erin stood behind him anxiously, worry gnawing at her as she thought of all the people trapped below them. If the Dalek killed everyone, killed_ Rose_…

"What if we can't stop it?" she whispered bleakly. The Doctor stopped typing and looked back at her grimly. "What if something happens to Rose?" Her lip involuntarily trembled.

"Nothing will happen," the Doctor told her in response, squeezing her hand before returning to the computer.

"I thought you were the expert, Doctor," Van Statten said coldly. The Doctor chose not to acknowledge him, but Erin glared at the ignorant human.

"He _is_."

"If he's so impressive, then why not reason with this Dalek?" Van Statten snapped back at her. "It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs, everything needs something."

"It needs to kill," Erin shot back. "What's the nearest city?"

"Salt Lake City."

"Population?"

"One million."

"Then that's how many people it wants dead," Erin said simply. "The Daleks are born to hate and destroy anything unlike themselves."

"But why would it do that?"

"Because it honestly believe that anything that isn't a Dalek, human or otherwise, is wrong and should die. It's the ultimate racial cleansing," the Doctor said, finally looking up angrily. "And that's what you've unleashed, Van Statten. You've let it loose!" He turned to the intercom and began addressing the soldiers, "The Dalek's surrounded by a force field. The bullets are melting before they even hit home, but it's not indestructible. Concentrate your fire and you might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece. Those are its weak spots."

"Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot," the commander's voice replied smugly. Erin began to protest that the Dalek was more than that, but the Doctor shook his head at her; they wouldn't be able to convince this soldier otherwise.

"We've got vision," Goddard said as the monitor came on.

"It wants us to see," the Doctor replied grimly as he got up and went to the monitor, Erin following behind him. Van Statten wisely kept silent and stayed out of the way.

Erin watched the Dalek shoot the sprinkler system, sending water everywhere, before sending a laser beam at one man. The water conducted the laser, killing all of the soldiers swiftly, and soon no one was left standing. Erin covered her mouth with her hands, horrified and feeling as if she was going to be sick. She turned and buried her face into the Doctor's chest, unable to look anymore, and he clutched her tightly, staring at the screen in shock.

"Perhaps we should consider a new strategy," Van Statten said at last, his voice trembling. "Abandon this place."

"Except there's no power to the helipad, sir, we can't get out," Goddard informed him.

"You said you could seal the vault," the Doctor said, looking at Van Statten.

"It was designed to be a bunker. In the events of nuclear war, steel bulkheads-" Van Statten began, going over to the computer.

"There's not enough power, though, they're massive," Goddard interrupted.

"Wait, but we're running on emergency power," Erin pointed out, finally looking up. "We can reroute that, right?"

"We'd have to bypass the security codes, though, it'd take a computer genius!" Goddard snapped back.

"Well, good thing you've got me, then," Van Statten said as he got to work on the computer.

"You want to help?" the Doctor asked, surprised.

"I don't want to die, Doctor, simple as that. Nobody knows this software better than me," Van Statten replied.

"Sir!" Goddard said suddenly and all three of them looked up to see that the monitor was back on. The Dalek was staring at them coldly.

"I will speak to the Doctor only!" it said.

"You're gonna get rusty," the Doctor commented.

"Let it," Erin muttered bitterly. He squeezed her shoulder slightly in warning as the Dalek's eyepiece flared slightly.

"I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveler regenerated me."

"And now for your next trick…" Erin said sarcastically.

"I have been searching for the Daleks," the Dalek said.

"Yeah, we saw. Downloading the Internet. What did you find?" the Doctor asked.

"I scanned your satellites and telescopes."

"And?" the Doctor prompted.

"Nothing." Its voice rose in hysteria as it demanded, "Where shall I get my orders now?"

"You're a soldier without commands," the Doctor replied.

"Then I shall follow the primary order: the Dalek instinct to destroy! To conquer!" the Dalek cried.

"Not if I can help it," Erin snarled furiously. "You've destroyed enough lives already." The Doctor squeezed her shoulder again, but she refused to back down this time. "What are you doing all this for? Don't you see that it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for."

"Then what should I do?" the Dalek asked at last, turning its eyepiece to her. Erin couldn't reply, startled by the simple question.

"All right," the Doctor said coldly. "If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself." Erin hadn't realized that the Doctor felt the exact same way she did about the Dalek. They were both, for once, on the exact same page.

"The Daleks must survive!" the Dalek protested.

"The Daleks have failed! Why don't you finish the job and make them extinct? Why don't you rid the world of your filth? Why don't you just _die_?" The Doctor roared the last word at the monitor and Erin started, clutching his hand in surprise.

"The last Time Lords," the Dalek said slowly, mockingly. "You would make good Daleks." Erin felt as if she had been doused with cold water. She looked up at the Doctor, who looked just as horrified as the monitor turned itself off.

"Seal the vaults," he ordered Van Statten at last, turning away from the monitor. Erin buried her face into his chest, sickened, and let her tears fall against the fabric of his jumper.

* * *

**So...I was rambling while typing most of this...it is one in the morning and I am exhausted. I'll try and post the last bit of the Dalek episode soon. Goodnight! :D**

**Dalek: Not so fast! You must talk about your cre-a-tive pro-cess!**

**Me: Dalek, not now. ****I'm tired.**

**Dalek: THEN YOU WILL BE EX-TER-MIN-A-TED!**

**Me: ...*walks away***

**Dalek: Wait! WAIT! YOU CAN-NOT WALK A-WAY FROM A DA-LEK! YOU SHALL BE EX-! Oh. She's gone. *Sad Dalek is sad***


	7. The Time War Ends

**The Time War Ends**

"I can leech power off the ground defenses, feed it to the bulkheads," Van Statten said as he typed rapidly into the computer. "It's been years since I've had to work this fast."

"Enjoying this, are you?" the Doctor snapped at him while Erin remained clinging to him, her face buried in his chest. "Erin, listen, I need you to call Rose and keep me informed on what's happening with her," he said gently, prying the smaller Time Lord off him.

"Okay," she said shakily at last, taking the mobile he was offering to her and punching in the number for Rose's phone.

"Not a good time," Rose's breathless voice informed her when she picked up after a few rings.

"Sorry, but the Doctor wants to know how you're doing," Erin replied sheepishly.

"We're at level 49," Rose said and Erin relayed the information to the Doctor, who had taken over Van Statten's spot on the computer.

"They need to keep going, the vault's going to be sealed off at 46," the Doctor replied and Erin told Rose just that.

"Can't you stop them closing?" Rose demanded.

"We're the ones closing them," Erin answered, feeling guilty. "We can't wait and we can't help, so I'm sorry, but you've got to keep running."

"Done it, we've got power to the bulkheads!" Van Statten said proudly.

"The Dalek's right behind them, though," Goddard said grimly.

"Nearly there, give us two seconds," Rose pleaded over the phone.

"She's almost there," Erin told the Doctor.

"We can't sustain the system, the power's failing," Van Statten protested. "You've got to close it!"

"She's our friend, we can't start closing it until she's safe!" Erin protested desperately, but the Doctor seemed to have made up his mind.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. Erin didn't know to whom he was apologizing, but then he hit the Enter key.

"Rose, hurry!" Erin said into the phone and Rose's heavy breaths as she ran were her only response. Then suddenly, everything went silent.

"The vault's sealed," Van Statten said slowly.

"Rose?" Erin asked quietly. "Rose, did you make it?"

"…sorry, Erin. I was a bit slow," the response came back at last. Erin looked up at the Doctor, horrified. Her grip on the phone was tight to the point of the phone almost breaking. His own eyes widened in realization even before Erin could relay the news. "Listen, sweetheart, it's not your fault, okay? And it's not the Doctor's, either. Tell him," Rose kept speaking, her words coming out faster and desperate. "Tell him I wouldn't've missed it for the world."

"Exterminate!" Erin threw the phone away from her when she heard the Dalek's shout. She was trembling, though she didn't realize it.

"She's gone," she said shakily at last. There was silence in response and she turned to look at the Doctor, who was looking at her blankly, as if waiting for her to say something else. "She's gone." Her voice broke and she found herself crying, tears streaming down her face soundlessly as her shoulders shook with silent sobs. The Doctor said nothing, his blank stare now turning to the computer.

"I killed her," he murmured.

"I'm sorry," Van Statten said quietly.

"I said I'd protect her," the Doctor continued, as if he hadn't heard Van Statten, but then his voice grew louder and angrier. "She was down there because of me, and you're sorry? Erin could have killed the Dalek in that cell and you stopped her!"

"It was the prize of my collection!" Van Statten argued.

"How dare you?" Erin shouted at him, wiping her eyes as she glared at him. "Was it worth it, then, your precious collection? Was it worth all those innocent men? Was it worth our best friend?" Stunned silence met her in response, but she noted the Doctor giving her an approving look.

"Mankind was meant to explore space, to be a part of something greater," he said at last.

"Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!" Van Statten said at last, finding his voice.

"No, you wanted to drag the stars underground, underneath miles of dirt, and label them. You're about as far from the stars as you can get," Erin spat furiously.

"And you took Rose down with you," the Doctor added mournfully at the end, his blank expression growing miserable. "She was just nineteen years old." Erin finally allowed herself to move forward and place her arms around the Doctor, pressing her face into his chest. He silently hugged her back, not offering her any other comfort. She understood; he was grieving just as much as she was.

The lift doors suddenly opened and the boy who had been with Rose (Adam, Erin's mind hazily supplied) stepped out.

"You were quick on your feet, leaving Rose behind!" the Doctor spat, shoving Erin aside and rounding on Adam.

"Hey, I'm not the one who closed the bulkhead!" Adam shot back angrily.

"Doctor!" Erin said suddenly, pointing at the monitor. It had turned on, showing the Dalek and a familiar figure behind it. "Doctor, it's Rose!" she gasped, beaming widely.

"Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies!" the Dalek commanded.

"Rose, you're alive!" the Doctor said, stunned and ecstatic.

"Can't get rid of me," Rose said with a shaky laugh before looking at Erin. "You all right, sweetheart?" Erin remembered the stray tears on her face and brushed them away, nodding.

"Uh-huh, I'm fine." She smiled widely. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Open the bulkhead!" the Dalek ordered, turning their attention back to it.

"Don't do it!" Rose cautioned. Erin looked at the Doctor, who looked back at her questioningly.

"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?" the Dalek taunted, now aiming its words at the Doctor. Erin nodded to him silently.

"We killed her once. We can't lose her again," he said at last and pressed the Enter key on the keyboard. The bulkhead slid open and the monitor shut off.

"What do we do now? Ya bleeding heart, what the hell do we do?" Van Statten snapped at the Time Lords.

"We kill it before it gets here," the Doctor said coldly.

"But all the weapons are in the vault," Goddard protested.

"All the catalogued ones," Adam said quietly. Everyone turned to him and he grinned sheepishly.

* * *

"Broken," the Doctor dismissed as he tossed one piece of technology aside. "Broken." Erin watched from the doorway nervously; the Doctor hadn't wanted her to take a weapon.

"There are a great many things I've done because of the Time War that I thought I'd never do," he had told her sternly. "But I will never let a kid take a gun."

"Hairdryer," the Doctor's scoff brought Erin out of her musing.

"Mr. Van Statten likes disposing of his staff and wiping their memories. I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day," Adam explained as he watched the Doctor search.

"You in a fight? I'd like to see that," the Doctor chuckled humorlessly as he dug through the box.

"I could do!" Adam said, offended.

"What'll you do? Throw your A-levels at them?" Adam decided to sulk in response. "Oh, yes!" The Doctor pulled out a mean-looking gun. "Lock and load!" Erin scrambled to follow him as he ran out the door. They raced up the flight of stairs, trying to beat the Dalek to the surface, and ran down the corridor, stopping when they saw it standing beneath a ray of sunlight, Rose in front of it.

"Get out of the way," the Doctor said coldly and Rose started, whirling around to face them. She looked confused.

"Rose, get out of the way, now!" Erin added.

"No! 'Cause I'm not gonna let you do this!" Rose protested.

"That monster killed hundreds of people," the Doctor said.

"It's not the one pointing a gun at me." The harsh statement made the Doctor flinch, as if it were a slap to the face.

"But I have to end it," he said weakly. "The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I have nothing left." Erin wanted to correct him, remind him that she was still there, but gave up, knowing she wouldn't get any acknowledgment from him.

"Yeah, but…look at it," Rose said gently, stepping aside to reveal that the Dalek's shell was open. A slimy squid-like creature with one eye lay inside, its tentacles reaching for the sunlight it stood in.

"What's it doing?" Erin asked, confused.

"It's the sunlight. That's all it wants," Rose explained. "It couldn't kill Van Statten and it couldn't kill me. It's changing. And what about you two, then? What the hell are you changing into?" Erin's hearts clenched painfully.

"It killed my mum," she whispered hoarsely as her eyes burned with tears. "And all those people downstairs." The Dalek stared back at her silently.

"I couldn't," the Doctor said just as shakily, dropping the gun in his hands. "I wasn't…oh, Rose. They're all dead." Erin could feel a tear rolling down her cheek as she blinked. The Dalek continued to stare unblinkingly at her, seemingly imploring for something.

"I can't." The words came out trembling and weak. "I can't ever forgive it."

"I know." Rose knelt in front of Erin so that they were at eye-level with each other. "I wouldn't ask you to do that, not after how much it hurt you. But please, don't hurt it." Erin didn't look at her, but continued to stare at the Dalek. Hesitantly, she took a few steps forward. The Dalek remained still until she was right in front of it. Shyly, she reached out and touched one of the Dalek's slimy tentacles. It instinctively recoiled from her touch, but then the tentacle wrapped around one of her fingers in a tentative handshake. They were at a stalemate.

"I don't forgive you," Erin said at last. "But I don't hate you, either."

"Why do we survive?" the Dalek asked quietly in response.

"I dunno," she whispered back.

"I am the last of the Daleks," it said, its speech slow like it had been in the Cage.

"You're not even that," the Doctor said suddenly and Erin turned slightly to face him, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Rose did more than regenerate you. You absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."

"Into what?" the Dalek demanded, sounding horrified.

"Something new. I'm sorry," the Doctor said sadly.

"But that's good, isn't it?" Rose asked.

"Not for a Dalek," Erin realized and felt the Dalek's grasp on her finger loosen slowly. She looked at it and saw that it was shrinking in on itself, drawing its tentacles away from her. She moved away from it and back to the Doctor's side.

"I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness. Rose, give me orders. Order me to die," the Dalek commanded.

"I can't," Rose said, hovering near the Doctor and Erin nervously.

"This is not life, this is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey!"

"…do it," Rose said at last, her face twisting into pity and disgust.

"Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?" the Dalek asked at last.

"Yeah," Rose said and Erin shyly reached for her hand, grasping it. Rose squeezed her hand back gratefully.

"So am I." The Dalek's eye closed. "Ex-ter-min-ate." As it closed up, Rose stumbled back and ran back towards the Doctor and Erin. She buried her face into the Doctor's chest as the Dalek self-destructed in a golden sphere. The Doctor grasped her tightly in a fierce embrace as he drew Erin close to him by her shoulders. The smaller Time Lord huddled between the Doctor and Rose, unable to look at the spot where the Dalek had been.

* * *

"Little piece of home," the Doctor said quietly as he placed his hand on the edge of the TARDIS. Rose and Erin stood with him in the lobby of the museum, where they had first landed. "Better than nothing."

"Yeah, well, you've got Erin," Rose said gently and he looked at her. She nodded in Erin's direction and he glanced over to see Erin looking away, staring at the wall determinedly. He smiled faintly.

"Yeah. I've got Erin." The little girl's head turned sharply in his direction and she stared at him, stunned, before a shy smile tugged at her lips.

"Is that the end of it? The Time War?" Rose asked, turning the Time Lords' attentions back to her.

"Guess so. We win. How about that?" Erin asked wryly, grinning.

"The Dalek survived. Maybe your people did, too," Rose said consolingly.

"We'd know. In here." The Doctor tapped his forehead. "Feels like there's no one else."

"Well, good thing I'm not going anywhere," Rose said with a grin. Erin beamed at her, as did the Doctor.

* * *

**Okay, I realize it took way too long to crank this chapter out. In my defense, I've been really depressed over my recent grades and I've been working like mad to improve them. Hopefully it won't take as long to pull out the next one. To be fair, though...DALEK IS DONE. THANK RASSILON. And I've been more and more obsessed with the Master. Which is a wee bit not good since we have about two more seasons till we get to him.**

**...*twitches***

**Master: Hehehe. You can't resist me.**

**Me: -_- Master, get out, don't tempt me to write your bits already.**

**Master: *reads Word document* You already did! And you wrote the ending too! *grins widely* Ooh, that's an unexpected twist!**

**Me: *smacks him away from my laptop***


End file.
